Ari sat back and flopped against the body of the dead soldiers around her. The battle was coming to an end and she relaxed against the bodies of the dead. She looked up into the sky where the sun was working its way through the grit, smoke and filth that had accumulated during the battle. A figure slowly came into her field of view.

"You are a brave young woman." Gandalf crouched before her and reached out to touch her face with his weathered hand. A small stream of blood smeared the side of her face and he was unsure whether it was hers or someone else's. "We'll get you into the city and have someone help you." Ari grinned slightly.

"Thanks Gandalf….that'd be…fantastic…" Ari closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

When Arianna woke up she did not remember much of the battle, nor could she remember what had brought her to the room she now found herself in. Her arm was heavily bandaged and she was still dressed in the tunic and trousers she had worn beneath her armor, which was now gone. She rose from her spot on a low bed and wandered into a hall choked with the injured and dieing. They lay on both sides of the narrow hall and all seemed to be moaning in agony. Ari staggered up the hall and stopped the first person she saw.

"Where's the Lady Eowyn?" The man she spoke to looked at her with tired eyes. "Where is she?" Ari shouted at the man, despite her injuries. She wanted to hit the man before her, at least pin him to the wall and threaten the information out of him.

"Up that way ma'am." The man moved out of Ari's way as she pushed past him. "You shouldn't be up miss! Miss!" Ari wasn't listening though and continued her way up the stairs. At the end of the hall she went up a steep and winding staircase. Despite feeling lightheaded and nauseous she pressed on, taking the steps two at a time. When she got to the top, she felt winded, but went down the hall and looked into each room on the left and right of the hall. Most of the rooms were empty, others had wounded men. In one, King Théoden lay dead. Two guards standing at the foot of his funeral bed. Ari's heart fell and she said a silent blessing though she didn't know why as she wasn't exceptionally close to the king, nor had she known him very long. She had to stop twice and lean against the wall to clear her head of the sickening dizziness that washed over her and catch her breath. She finally made her way into a room, bright with light. In the bed to her right lay a man who she didn't recognize. His features were different than that of the people of Rohan. He was darker and thinner than any of the men she'd been associating with for the weeks leading up to the great battle. On her left, lay Eowyn. Ari walked slowly to the other woman's bedside and reached out to touch her pale cheek.

"She isn't dead." Ari leapt back and squinted into the sunlight streaming in through a window on the other side of Eowyn's bed. Eomer came away from the window and strolled around the foot of the bed to stand beside Ari. "You shouldn't be up and about."

"Gee, tell me something I didn't know." Ari said quietly. She kept her eyes on Eomer's face as he stood next to her. An intense silence descended over them and Ari finally broke it when it became unbearable. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. All of this."

"No it isn't." Eomer clasped her shoulder and squeezed slightly. "You are both strong women.—the entire orc army could not have stopped you…either of you." Ari sighed deeply. She felt drained and tired and she had an intense headache. She closed her eyes against the wave of exhaustion that suddenly descended onto her. "You need to rest." Ari opened her eyes and saw a chair at the foot of the bed and moved to it, sitting heavily.

"That's not what I had in mind." Eomer said as he brought a blanket to Ari. "You need to lie down."

"I need a new body…this one hurts." Ari said after the pounding in her head had stopped for a moment. "Are you mad at me?" Ari asked as Eomer tucked the blanket up under her chin, careful to avoid her injured arm.

"No—why should I be mad at you?" Eomer's face had not changed from his melancholy stare since she'd come into the room.

"Will you be mad at me if…if…" Ari didn't want to say it but Eomer got the message. He crouched down and brushed hair out of her still dirty face. "She isn't going to die. And I'm not mad at you." Ari nodded and the two of them kept watch over Eowyn. Eventually Ari drifted off to sleep. Eomer called for a cot to be brought up, knowing that she would be furious if she was taken out of the room where Eowyn was. Someone came in and washed the battle grime from Ari's face and arms.

Later that evening Ari awoke with a great fever. Dark shapes swam before her eyes in the dim yellow light of a lamp.

"Arianna? Arianna, are you awake?" The voice seemed far away and Ari turned her head and looked up into Aragorn's face. His eyes were tired and full of concern.

"Yeah…I think so…I don't want to be..." Ari replied.

"Drink this." Ari drank the sweet liquid that Aragorn poured down her throat. It took several moments for her to focus on what was going on around her, but she eventually did.

"What's going on? Why is it so cold?"

"You're ill…you have a raging fever." Another face bobbed into view just beyond Aragorn's. Aragorn turned slightly and whispered to the person behind him, "We've got to set her fingers or she'll never be able to use her hand ever again….her arm is going to have to be cauterized as well, or she could lose it." It was something that Ari wasn't meant to hear, but she heard it just the same. Ari knew that both things were going to hurt and didn't want to be a part of either. She made a move to sit up and get off the bed, but Aragorn pushed her back onto the cot and held her down. "No, Ari….stay down." Ari looked to the other side of the bed where Eomer's face suddenly bobbed into view to her right.

"This has to done Ari."

"No it DOESN'T!" Ari struggled against Aragorn again; trying to get away from the physical pain that she knew was imminent. Eomer waved Aragorn off and grasped Ari's shoulders gently. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked into Ari's scared eyes and willed her to relax.

"This has to be done Ari, let us help you." Eomer brushed hair back from her face and could feel the fever raging through her. "Relax and let us help…" Her eyes began to tear and her breathing came quickly.

"I'm scared…how can you expect me to relax?" Eomer reached down and clasped her right hand with his left and brought it up over her head, then he reached his right arm across her and pinned her to the bed.

"I'll be here with you….don't worry." Ari stared up into Eomer's eyes and tried to concentrate on him and not the pain she knew would come. She flinched when she felt someone's hand on her battered one. "Shh…concentrate on me. Keep looking at me Ari."

Ari gritted her teeth as the first wave of pain washed over her and she heard the grinding crunch of her finger being popped back into place. The second caused her to cry out and the third brought more tears to her eyes. Eomer released her from his hold and allowed her to catch her breath. He brushed the tears off her face.

"Just one more, Arianna." Aragorn was saying.

"No. Not without some major pain killers first." Ari ground out. She tried to fight again as Aragorn forcefully popped her middle finger back into place. Eomer once again had to hold her down. Ari leaned back and sobbed openly. Her hand hurt so badly. At least before Aragorn had popped her fingers back into place, she hadn't been able to move her fingers and feel the pain, now she could do both. Eomer got up and stood just out of Ari's view with Aragorn.

"What now?" He asked the other man. "She's been through so much just now."

"We have to take care of that cut on her arm….her elbow had been dislocated and they relocated it out on the battlefield, but that cut on her arm….Eomer, it's already becoming infected." Aragorn looked down at the woman lying in the bed. "If we don't do it now, the fever will run through her body and could kill her." Eomer moved back to Ari's bedside and stared down at her.

"Don't….please, don't let him…" Ari could see Aragorn moving beyond her bedside. "It hurts so much…" Her vision blurred for a moment and she fought to keep control of everything.

"I know it will, I'm not going to lie to you Ari. But you'll survive it." Eomer stroked her face and brushed the tears from her cheeks.

"I won't…I won't…" Ari hated getting shots, much less having her arm scorched. She might act cavalier about some things, but when it came to pain, she was a huge chicken.

"You will." Eomer helped her sit up and maneuvered himself so he was sitting behind her. He cradled her in his arms while Aragorn and a nurse helped ready the materials to cauterize Ari's arm. "I can't lose you Ari. I won't lose you." Ari closed her eyes and relaxed against Eomer's strong chest. Her breathing slowed, though she still shuddered on every exhale, and she became calmer lying in his arms. It amazed her that he could have such an effect on her. Aragorn approached the bedside and took her good hand in his.

"I will be quick—I don't want to cause you more pain." Eomer tightened his arms around her chest and ribcage ensuring she wouldn't squirm. Ari watched as Aragorn pulled the old bandages from her arm. It was covered in dry blood from her elbow most of the way to her wrist. At the edges of the six inch wound, her skin was white and seemed to have bubbled back from itself, the infection trying to eat her skin away. Aragorn gently ran a rag across her arm, cleaning the dry blood from her arm. He gently touched the wound and Ari turned her head and hissed with the burning feeling of it.

"Don't look Ari…this will hurt." Ari felt the heat of the cauterizing iron on her skin long before it ever touched her. She grasped Eomer's arm tightly with her good hand and buried her face in the crook of his arm. Someone held her other arm down and she squeezed Eomer's tighter.

"Breathe Ari…" She heard Eomer whisper. She found it difficult to do so, but tried her best, she hadn't realized she was even holding her breath. Even though her eyes were closed tightly and she was turned away from the grizzly event she could feel the world spinning around her as Aragorn pressed the hot iron onto her skin, burning the flesh and fusing the wound closed. Eomer held her close, the only thing keeping her on earth, she thought vaguely as she screamed against the pain. Ari vaguely felt the other person releasing her hand and someone slowly and gently massaging a cooling salve into the fresh burn. Slowly, she released the vice like grip she'd had on Eomer's arm.

"Is it done yet?" Her eyes were still closed and she was still turned away from Aragorn.

"Aye. It's done now." Eomer stroked the side of her face and she slowly opened her eyes and looked around her. Eomer was stroking her upper arm trying to get her to relax further. "You're still feverish…you probably will be for a few days." Aragorn was saying as he re-bandaged her arm. "You need to get plenty of rest though in order to heal properly." Ari nodded slowly. She was tired and her adrenaline level had spiked and now was dropping off.

"Fantastic."

Eomer stayed with her throughout the night, giving her water and bathing her fevered brow. Ari drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the evening until she finally nodded off close to dawn.